President Barack Obama will return 5 percent of his salary to the U.S. Treasury Department in a show of solidarity with federal workers affected by $85 billion in government-wide spending cuts.
Hundreds of thousands of workers could be forced to take unpaid leave if Congress fails to reach an agreement soon to undo the cuts, which came as punishment for the inability of the Obama administration and Congress to come up with another way to address the country’s debt.
A 5 percent cut from the president’s salary of $400,000 a year amounts to $20,000.
